Your favorite tea says a lot about you. Almost as much as your favorite band.
Charles and I both love music. He plays guitar in, like, 20 bands and I buy shockingly overpriced gear to listen to the stuff. Which is funny because Charles loves, like, 20 teas and I buy shockingly overpriced gear to drink the stuff from. So music seemed the perfect theme for Series 3.
With three sets of tea under our belts, you know what really rocks our tea pot. But do you know what rocks our mics? I’m going to bare all and share some seriously embarrassing music stories.
I was born in 1971 and grew up listening to The Grateful Dead. I went to at least a dozen shows by the time I was eight years old. I even met Jerry. Briefly, but I met him. Put that in your “for tobacco use only” pipe and smoke it.
By the time I was eight, nothing was bigger in my world than Star Wars, Legos, and KISS. When you are an impressionable kid, the “quality” and “nuance” and “musicianship” of the music is secondary. Those guys were living superheros. My mom took me to see KISS in 1979 at the now-demolished Capital Center in Landover, Maryland. We had floor seats. 30 years later, I took my buddy Paul to see KISS. He was eight at the time. His awe and excitement at that spectacle reminded me of what being a kid is all about. Did you know Gene Simmons is 60 years old? Seriously, the guy still rocks.
Middle school was MTV and more MTV. I had some Police cassettes and all of Adam Ant’s records. My friends in school loved them some Duran Duran. A guy up the street played me plenty of early Black Sabbath which I thought was incredible. Their album covers were insane. Weird Al showed up around this time and stunned me with his imagination. That guy never went the easy route. Every parody was unexpected and hilarious. Have you heard White and Nerdy?
I missed the new wave, cool punk scene while attending high school in South Carolina. I listened to a ton of stoner rock from the sixties and seventies. Jethro Tull, Heart, Hendrix. Then I went on a heavy metal kick. Anthrax was my band of choice since they sang songs about comic books. My pal Lewis and I got to see Megadeth live. It was so loud I threw up. True story.
During my senior year in high school I did what every nerd does: I discovered Rush. I wore those guys on my sleeve well into college. I’ve been to a stack of shows, even their latest tour. Say what you will about Rush (and I’ve heard it all), those guys are pros. Now my dad is a huge Rush fan (and avid tea drinker, the stronger the better).
Funny side story: I went to a Dead show in DC in 1989 because a girl I had a painful crush on was there. Turns out Charles was there, too, but I didn’t know him. So was my future wife, Kelly. Crazy. Good thing that crush didn’t work out or I’d be lonely and tealess.
The biggest hit of college was hearing Too Much Joy. They were great. Smart-ass lyrics, fun tunes, and obscure enough to make me feel cool knowing about them. I got to catch a couple of their shows between college and grad school. I even met Tim Quirk. He offered to try and sneak me into a 21+ show since I was 20 at the time. What a guy.
Grad school was odd. I missed the popular stuff from the mid-nineties. I dug up Drugstore, Lisa Germano, Dolly Varden, Southern Culture on the Skids, Freakwater, Beck, early Rolling Stones, Mono Men, Roy Orbison, and Pet Shop Boys. Spit take! Pet Shop Boys. Now there’s a duo that knows production values! I got to see Los Lobos play live in a small club. I don’t know how, but I stumbled upon Slobberbone. Probably the name caught my attention. They’ve since morphed into The Drams. Fantastic lyrics and great rock songs. You’ve got to check them out.
Now I listen to all kinds of music. Mostly rock and roll with some pop, alt-country, and rap/hip-hop thrown in for fun. I love finding an old song on iTunes. I love fun songs and sad songs. I’m a huge Dethklok fan now. Fake band fan!
I’m far less insecure about my musical tastes, but I bet that comes with age. Like your taste in tea, your taste in music changes over time.
So now it’s your turn. What are some of your favorite bands? And don’t hold back on the embarrassing ones. I went first.
Eduardo — I forgot all about Yukon Jack but the UConn connection is hilarious! Those dudes must have felt like they were on a righteous mission downing that stuff. I assume there was a huge PR push sometime in the 80s as it was “the drink” for a while and I haven’t seen it since. Can’t say I miss it, but maybe it’d be nice to blackout to Foghat just one more time before it’s all over.
The Megadeath concert was a surreal Heart of Darkness epic journey beginning in between classes at high school with the proposition of free tickets that Erik won on the radio, and a promising first ever road trip in his silver, slot-mag clad Chevy Malibu. It ended with temporary hearing loss, a healthy respect for crowds, and the surreality of Southern rural blight haunting our creative imaginations. Stoic.
The best I can remember, the event itself took place in the gymnasium of a derelict school in Southeastern North Carolina, and if I didn’t have a mid-’80s mullet by that time, I soon did. It was all within a two year mid high school heavy metal period where I collected and inflicted on my ears the LPs of bands such as Iron Maiden, Storm Troopers of Death and Queensryche. These all fell by the wayside, however, with an introduction to Cliff Burton era Metallica.
My hairstyle changed dramatically thanks to the Cure, the Smiths, the Smithereens, Bauhaus, Love & Rockets, Siouxsie & The Banshees and such, but mostly the Cure (thanks big sis). Robert Smith’s music caused my hair to reach its most extreme state on record. I heard Joy Division’s “love will tear us apart” on WUSC, Columbia around the fall of 1988 and fell in love with the godfathers of post punk. The only embarrassing one of these would be the Smiths I think. I still love the music, but seriously, have you listened to Morrissey’s lyrics? Quit whining dude and take in a movie or someting.
Graduation from college in the mid 90’s meant time to slack, listen to music, and go to shows. Built to Spill, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Superchunk, Guided by Voices, Mogwai, Sunny Day Real Estate, Modest Mouse, Grandaddy, Cat Power, Archers of Loaf, Low, etc. That takes me up to about 1999. The following 10 years would take too long, so thanks for all the great tea A&D, and I/we salute you!
Never be embarrassed by music.
At one of my early concerts, Foghat at the New Haven Coliseum, I recall having a great time. We were seated up in the nosebleed section next to this rowdy crowd from the University of Connecticut. These guys drove down from the Storrs campus and they were really into Foghat big-time. They nearly exploded during Slow Ride.
One of the guys offered us a bottle of what he called UConn Jack. We polished it off in minutes. Only later in life did I learn that it is NOT UConn Jack (named after the University of Connecticut), but Yukon Jack – a 100 proof Canadian whiskey.
Now if you know the New Haven Coliseum at all, you may know the parking garages were elevated off the street and you had to use long corkscrew ramps to drive up/down. I have a vague recollection of laying out splayed on the hood of a car while we drove down the corkscrew ramp. I wanted to be a living hood ornament. It may have or have not happened.
My memory of this event remains clouded. Maybe some tea will awaken my synapses.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrews & Dunham, Andrews & Dunham. Andrews & Dunham said: Your favorite tea says a lot about you. Almost as much as your favorite band. ERIK BARES ALL in music confessional: http://bit.ly/4XdS7R [...]
My first concert was Captain and Tennille at the fairgrounds. Muskrat Love was astounding, with Toni Tennille’s squawky sound effects of a muskrat in love echoing through the grandstands! I was in awe. I was seven years old.
The first record I purchased with my own money was Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall. I remember calling the local college radio station one night to request “Rock With You” and they shouted into the phone (and on the air): “DISCO SUCKS!”
Speaking of being on another planet, the new Earl Grey ROCKS!! I had my first brew of it today and it’s divine! Totally unique and worthy of rockstar status!
My embarrassing band moment…. the first concert I ever saw. Bryan Adams. Good thing I moved on to the Dead. Keep on rockin’ hubs and friend.
p.s. Current faves: Neko Case, Wilco, Spoon, The National, Honeyhoney
Even though I’ve mostly moved on from them, I’d still have to say Elvis Costello (Pre-Warner years) and Nick Cave are my music Gods. I’ve been through every possible music phase, save rap. I like bands less now than I just search for great songs. I still love 40s and 50s RnB, Doo-Wop, Country and Rockabilly. Love the 60s Soul and Garage. Can’t get enough Bop and Hard Bop.
As far as embarrassing bands, my first favorite band was Night Ranger. A few years later I had moved on to awesome stuff like Level 42 and Howard Jones. But that was a secret, because I was a metalhead in High School, and that sort of thing wasn’t allowed. Had to rock the Whitesnake, Guns n’ Roses and Cult to be cool back then. Oh, and Poison. F’real. None of this liking a hair metal band for the ironic effect garbage.
P.S. Thanks for the great tea. Still enjoying Series 2. Will order up some Series 3 soon.